Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-12-17
WILLIAM e. BOUDlNOT.

WILLIAM E. soUDlNoT.
fAs Man Who First Thought Of the
Signal Service and His Life.
Especial Correspondencel
RAiHGH, \. c., Dec. le-In the quietest
way in the world, and literally in the woods
Of Chatham county, this state, lives William
u Boudinot. a man who is ths real originator
or discoverer of the signal service system
Like many man who has worked out in his
brain o great idea, he has received neither
credit nor reward for his discovery, and can
only, m his declining years, almost forgotten.
- Others reap the honors due him He wss
born in Chatham county, in lSl1, and only .
few days ago completed his three score years
and ten. He had a special fondness for the
naval service, and about 1887 joined it,
after graduating with distinction at the
Naval academy. He served with gallantry
during the war with Mexico and
was mentioned in dispatches Later he was
. member of Commodore Perry's expedition
% Japan, being at that time lieutenant
In 1886 he was on station at Washington, ID.
C., and it was then that he conceived the
idea Of the signal service. He brought 1t to
The attention of the navy department that
year, as can be proven by documents on file
q Washington, but these were piseonholed,
after the manner in vogue there in that day,
and indeed since. In 1858 Capt Boudinot
left the service, to become . rice planter on
the Cape Fear river, near Wilmington In
1861 he joined the Confederate navy and
again became a captain. In that service, as
in that Of the United States, he did his duty
alwaya The end of the war found him i'm
poverished. He retired in 1868 TO Chatham
county, and began that quiet life which has
never since been interrupted In 1SGS he
concluded to make an attempt to revive the
signal service idea. He wrote the following
lstter to the New York Chamber of Com
merce, under date Of Wilmington, n. c.,
March IL, 1865:
''Some twelve years ago. while I was an
o{ncer OF the navy, stationed at " Washington,
the idea occurred TO me of making the elcc-
txic telegraph subserve the mercantile and
commercial interests of the country, but the
matter was not acted upon. As the matter
h one by which the commercial interests of
the country could be SO greatly benefited,
have thought it proper to submit the plan to
your honorable body. knowing that if you
indorse it the commercial and political in
duence Of tho state OF New York will carry
1t into active operation. The proposition
which l offer is TO establish at Washington
what may be termed meteorological bureau.
to which central point should he transmitted
by the telegraph communications from every
collector of customs along our entire coast,
giving the state of the weather twice each
twenty -four hours, together with the direction
and force of the wind. the state of the harom-
eter and other Indications of the condition Of
the atmosphere. which information SHOULD be
carefully examined by the superintendent Of
such signal service at Washington, and then
b given TO all other points on the coast The
commanders of vessels would thus be in
formed Of the state of the weather, and if, as
Is frequently The case, a heavy gale may be
blowing at Charleston or Savannah twenty
four hours before the body of the storm
reaches the latitude of New York, they may
remain quietly in port until the storm passes
their latitude and avail themselves Of the
favorable northwest winds which usually
succeed these storms. thereby saving the
wear and tear Of vessels and the possible
danger of shipwreck, and il bound
to any southern port to make q
quick run to the port of destination.
The theory of storms suggested by Red
men that it may be regarded as fact that
nearly every destructive storm which occurs
on our coast has its ori...n on the sorthern
coast, and the body Of the storm has a pro-
gf0aEive motion toward the northward, and
generally expcnds itself in the northwest
portion OF the American continent. The
barometer invariably indicates the approach
of these storms, and in he event of this su--
k~~.~ 81, IL. :
tration at Washington of the barometric
range, by careful investigation, would give
notice OF these gales before any other indica-
ton To practical mind it would seem a
plan SO easily carried iato effect. involving SO
msll an expenditure, fraught with much ben
eG to the commercial interests of the coun-
e.g and the saving of many valuable lives,
ksoCld certainly receive the attention of a
great maritime nation, and therefore sub
NIT it to your honorable body without COM
men4
Capt Boudinot has furnished me with a
copy Of this letter. No notice was taken of
he communication The New York Cham
Der Of Commerce, no doubt, thought ii tho
scheme Of some crank Later
capt. Boudinot wrote similar letters to
Catesby Jones, who had been his classnate at
Annapolis, and to other scientific gentlemen
as Washington, but they did not then aprre-
riate the value of his ideas and plans. 1t is
MD, however, by people who ought to know
tLat his letters and ideas really furnished the
foundation upon which the present signal
lervice system has been based As a measure
u justice Capt. Boudinot, its real inventor,
,hould be pensioned or rewarded for such a
discovery.
By a strange coincidence the room in
which Capt. Boudinot wrote the letter above
quoted afterward became the first quarters
If the signal station at Wilmington. In q
etter to me, dated Oct. l., 1881, that vener-
able man says: This day | complete nv
.hree score years and ten, and have therefore |
ost all desire for celebrity, or the honor |
Thich my connection with the signal service |
nay reflect upon me personally. In regard |
% its benefits. have long since abandoned |
VI idea of receiving any pecuniary reward |
Ny hope in originally making known its con- |
'eption WIS that Catesby Jones lie placed in |
'harge OF the bureau, if established BY the
government. Jones being an intimate per-
onal friend, with whom / had been for ten
ears associated in the naval service Per
,aps all is for the best. The country is deriv-
nS the benefit OF the conception and { Is
who originated the plan"
Thus 1t viii be seen that Capt. Boudinot /
dds modcstyto his other merits. Yet b.
must feel the neglect of which be is the vie
i'm. He is Of unusual scientific attainmcnts,
md his conversations on such sub iccts ars
lways delightful, rs are also his reminis-
ences of bysorc days In the old navy
Iocally lie Is known IS "Coumodorc- lie
Iad wide acquaintance in tho old service.
nd many a Erizzlcd o!iiicer, active or retired,
viii recall ''BiiI BoaGinot," who for So many
ears had dropped out Of sight il these bust
Ing times, ~hc, TO be quiet Is to be forgotten.
Capt. Boudinot hos 10 coTic3 cf his first
etters on the sub jet &c TIC s2rvioe, but III.
ne written IL lsoS Is ;act!c-lly . rrproLuc- |